Animation and Illustration

Become a skilled and versatile animator with a focus on illustration and storytelling, and prepare for a rewarding creative career.

Explore a variety of animation and illustration methods and media, including puppet making and stop-motion animation, traditional 2D animation, digital 2D and 3D animation, character and graphic novel design.

With guidance and support from dedicated industry professionals, you’ll develop your technical skills and a personal language within animation.

You’ll learn the entire creative process from observational drawing and research to storyboarding to editing and sound design, so that you can best bring your characters and stories to life.

• Become a skilled and versatile 2D or 3D animator, focusing on illustration and storytelling

• Go on group drawing trips and visit museums, galleries and animation festivals

• Work in dedicated animation production studios with high-end 3D CGI, Cintiqs and rostrum equipment

• Attend lectures from top animation studios in London

• Graduate industry-ready with a professional portfolio, showreel or website

• Get full training on all our facilities, including our print studio and Futures Lab

Careers

As a student at ARU you’ll prepare for your future career by creating a showreel, website and promotional material.

You'll also take part in a final-year degree show, and attend guest talks from top animation studios such as Passion Pictures, The Mill, FrameStore and Studio Aka.

You’ll also get the opportunity to work on live briefs set by industry; we’ve worked with companies like 9 Trees, Provide CIC, Curveball Media, and even the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, creating an animated ident to promote their collaboration with Chelsea Flower Show.

This degree will prepare you for work in the creative industries a 2D/3D animator, motion graphics designer, or illustrator for a wide range of studios and publishers when you graduate.

Many of our graduates now work with leading animation studios and broadcasters such as The Mill, 12 Foot 6, Slurpy Studios, The Like Minded, Filofax, BBC and Channel 4, as well as developing freelance careers in animation and illustration.

Teaching

Year 1 is your chance to explore, learn, experiment, and find your unique style.

You’ll get straight into the studio, learning the principles of image creation, storytelling, different types of animation, film-making and production methods.

In years 2 and 3 you’ll develop your animation and drawing skills and style, and start thinking about your future career by taking part in live projects, creating a website, showreel or portfolio, and building your professional network.

Finally, you’ll showcase your abilities and skills as a creative producer with a major individual or group project.

Year 1: Animation Skills; Observation to Imagination; Animation Principles; Critical and Contextual Studies 1: Think, Play, Learn; Conceptual and Creative Methods; Into ARU.

Year 2: Character in Sequence; Creative Digital Practice; Animation in Practice; Critical and Contextual Studies 2: Creativity and Context in Dialogue; Ruskin Module.

Year 2 Optional: Archive: Creative Futures; Reality Checkpoint - Socially Engaged Practice and the Public Realm; Reportage; Timed Based Media; Exhibitions in Context.

Year 3: Professional Sequential Practice; Final Major Project.

Year 3 Optional: Critical and Contextual Studies 3: Working in the Creative Industries; Critical and Contextual Studies 3: Creative Inquiry

Modules are subject to change and availability.

This is a hands-on, practical course and our assessment is based on the coursework you complete for each of your modules. This includes completed project work as well as accompanying material such as sketchbooks, animatics, storyboards, pre-viz, digital tests and rough cuts.

Through a blog and discussion we are looking to see how you research, analyse and develop your work – in other words, how you think as a visual artist as well as how you are developing your personal voice, creative expression, production skills and technical know-how.

You’ll also attend lectures in which you explore historical and contemporary illustration and animation and current social contexts, and show your research skills and critical thinking in discussions, presentations and written assignments.